Glaciers around the world are melting faster than in any previous decade since measurements began. Glaciers form when snow accumulates over many years and compresses into ice. Glaciers accumulate snow in the winter, and then melt ice in the summer. Cold temperatures, more snow, or both,... click to read more

The average temperature on Earth rose dramatically during the last century. This is due to human activity, which led to the increased atmospheric concentration of certain gases, typically called greenhouse gases. These gases increase the solar heat trapped by our planet. The greenhouse gas methane... click to read more

The Antarctic ice sheet has been losing ice at an increasing rate. It remains unclear whether this mass loss will further accelerate over the coming decades. The continent of Antarctica is vast, bigger than the US and Mexico combined, and because it is so cold... click to read more

We often hear about how the warming climate is affecting the natural world around us. But the human-made global change is a tremendously more complicated problem than "just" a changing climate. It captures pollution, invasive species, biodiversity loss, excessive use of species or land, all... click to read more

Flowering plants living submerged in lakes or streams evolved from terrestrial ancestors. However, successful adaptations to living submerged required several adjustments in anatomy, morphology, and physiology. Nevertheless, all aquatic plants utilize CO2 in their photosynthesis to produce carbohydrates and release O2 as a waste product.... click to read more